The Summer That Changed Our Lives
by xcaitienicholex
Summary: Riley Smalls hated moving. She hated the thought of making new friends. She knows in her mind she was never going to make friends in the Valley. But then her stepbrother introduces her to the Sandlot gang. Along the same lines as the movie but with an OC
1. Chapter 1

**_MAJOR AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**

**_Uh, hey. This is a little awkward since I sort of abandoned this story after just one chapter. Three years later, I have decided not to give up! Yay! This chapter is sort of redone. I just fixed a few spelling and grammar mistakes. I didn't get too extensive, though. The only major change I made was I switched Riley's name spelling. I spelled so weird the first time. While Riley isn't exactly a major girl name from the 60's, I didn't want to change it completely because that would be confusing. Anyway, I will be updating this story again! Cool. Re-read, or don't, whatever floats your boat._**

* * *

"Scotty, hurry up! I would really like to get done unpacking before I'm 90!" I yelled at my younger stepbrother.

We had just moved to the Valley. My dad and his mom had gotten married just a year before we moved to the Valley. I could tell Scotty was still unsure of what to call my dad. He alternated between Bill and Dad. I honestly had no problem calling his mom, Mom. She was really nice and I knew I'd be able to ask her anything, unlike my own mom. My real mom left my dad and I when I was 5. She said she had bigger and better dreams than being a stay-at-home mom. She wanted to be a 'star.' Last I heard she was still singing karaoke in the local bars.

I walked outside and over to the little U-Haul trailer. Scotty picked up a box then put it down on top some other boxes. He waved at a boy who was walking across the street. The boy nodded in acknowledgement and then walked up to the porch of a house, heading inside. Scotty sighed then took the box in the house. I knew exactly what he was thinking. How in the hell are you supposed to make friends in a whole new state? I left all my friends behind and I had to make a whole new set of friends. Maybe I could just become a friendless loser and never leave home. Maybe my dad would change his mind about making us move. Okay, I was being a little over-dramatic but a girl can dream, can't she?

I sighed and then grabbed a box, walking inside. I walked in to my room which was next to Scotty's. I set the box on my bed and sat down next to it. I wiped some sweat from my forehead. Ugh, why did California have to be so hot? I pulled my blonde hair back into a ponytail and began unpacking my things.

The next few days were spent unpacking and getting things organized in the house. One night, I heard Mom go into Scotty's room and tell him that needed to try and make some friends. Due to the very thin walls I heard the whole conversation. She told him he needed to be a kid and get into to trouble. She officially became the coolest mom ever, in my eyes.

"Maybe you and Riley can try and make some friends together," I heard her say.

I frowned. She honestly wanted a 13 year old girl to make friends with 11 year olds? Really? I heard her walk to the door and close it. She walked past my room and told me goodnight. I sighed and fell asleep.

The next morning, Scotty and I were eating cereal at the table. Dad was sitting next to me reading some papers. Scotty took his bowl into the kitchen and I sat silently at the table. I heard him and and Mom whisper-arguing in the kitchen. A minute later, Scotty walked back in, Mom followed behind.

"Uh, Bill, I-I mean, Dad," he said nervously.

"Yeah?" Dad replied not looking up from papers.

"Could you, like you said, teach me to play catch?"

"Yeah, sure. But I gotta get some work stuff finished, okay?"

"Oh, okay."

Mom stepped forward. "Bill, could you teach him now?"

After bickering for a few minutes about it, Dad finally gave in and went outside with Scotty to teach him.

I sat on the back porch and watched them. I thought back to the time Dad taught me to play. I was about 7 years old. After my real mom left, I became very tomboyish and begged my dad to teach my to play baseball. He always wanted a son to play baseball with so I guess he figured I was the next best thing. I picked up the throwing part right away but catching was a bit more of challenge for me. I practiced night and day until I finally gotten good enough to at least be a pitcher. My dad set up little games in the neighborhood we lived in back then. The boys always told me girls couldn't play baseball but I quickly shut them up when I pitched. I did get made fun of alot in school by a lot by the girls. They always thought it was weird that a girl was playing baseball. Actually, it was pretty much frowned upon by them. Everyone considered it a boy sport but I didn't care. I loved it more than anything.

"Ow! My eye!" Scotty yelled with hand over his eye. I followed them inside. Dad got out a steak from the freezer and put it on his eye. He told him to keep it on his eye for an hour and that it would still be bruised but it wouldn't swell. He said sorry and then walked back into his trophy room.

Scotty and I went out to the front porch and sat in silence. This was going to be a long summer.


	2. Chapter 2

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_

_**Here is the much anticipated second chapter of 'The Summer that Changed Our Lives!' Wooohooo. If you didn't read the author's note in the (rewritten-ish) first chapter, I have come back and decided to finish (or really start it) this story! I know we all get super cringey at OC stories, but I don't want to give up on this one, yet. And I do realize that Riley is sort of a Mary Sue because (shocker) she's a girl who likes baseball. Oh well. What are you gonna do? I wrote this story when I was first learning about fanfiction, so I'm just going to go with it. Hopefully, I'll make Riley as original as possible. Anyway, enjoy! **_

_**PS, I bought The Sandlot on Amazon the other day and should be coming in the mail soon. That should definitely mean that I'll be writing more.**_

* * *

I felt bad for Scotty. I mean, it was his first time trying to play baseball and the poor kid gets a black eye. Not exactly ideal. He did catch it, though, so that was a plus.

I looked over at him and saw him examining his glove. It must have busted when he caught the ball. That didn't make things any better. I patted his shoulder and gave him a look of pity.

"Hey," the boy that Scotty had waved at yesterday greeted, walking up to our porch.

"Hey," Scotty replied and I waved.

"I'm gonna play some ball. We need an extra guy. You wanna go?" the boy asked, looking at my brother and ignoring me. Typical.

Scotty shook his head. "No, thanks."

The boy looked confused. "Why not? Don't you like baseball?"

"Oh yea, but, uh-" I could tell Scotty was trying really hard to make up an excuse not play.

"But what?" Geez, this kid was determined.

"But my glove; it's busted. See, uh, now I can't go. Thanks, though."

"It's okay," the boy replied. "I got an extra one. Come on, let's go."

"Can my sister come?" Scotty asked, glancing over at me.

The boy looked hesitant, probably not wanting to play with a girl.

"I'll just watch," I reassured him. He nodded in response.

Scotty jumped up and opened the screen door. "Mom, Riley and I are gonna go play some ball. Be back in a little while."

"Come on, let's go," the boy repeated. Scotty and I followed after him.

I was nervous, not for myself but for Scotty. He wasn't good at making friends. Never was. This kid seemed really into baseball and Scotty's skills were lacking in that area. I just hoped his lack of talent didn't harm his chances of friendship.

"So what are your names?" the boy asked as we walked.

"I'm Scott Smalls but everyone calls me Scotty," my brother replied. They both looked over at me.

"Riley," I answered simply.

"What's yours?" Scotty asked.

"Benny Rodriguez."

The rest of the walk was silent on the older boy's part. I noticed right away that Benny wasn't a person of many words. He stayed quiet as Scotty and I chatted idly. When we arrived at a place called "Vincent's Drug Store," Benny told us that 'the guys' were around back. I fell into step a little behind Benny and Scott, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

In the back of the store, a red-haired chubby boy stood in front of a few other boys. He had a fake cigar hanging from his mouth as he talked.

"I'm the Great Bambino," he said, though it was hardly understandable.

"What?" the boys asked, looking at each other then back at him.

"I'm the Great Bambino," he repeated, a little louder. Again, the boys had no idea what he was saying. I had to chuckle at the boy's impression of Babe Ruth. I watched as he took the cigar from his mouth, annoyed. "I'm the Great Bambino!"

"Oh," the other boys mumbled, laughing, too.

"Who's that?" Scotty spoke. I resisted the urge to face-palm. I always forget just how little he knows about baseball.

The boys all looked at each other, shocked and probably disgusted that Scotty had to ask. Ham turned to look at Scott and said, "What? What did he say?"

One of the boys, who was wearing round glasses, spoke up first. "What, were you born in a barn, man?"

"Yeah, yeah, what planet are you from?" another boy asked.

A boy, with more square looking glasses chimed in, "You've never heard of the Sultan of Swat?"

"The Titan of Terror?"

"The Colossus of Clout?"

"The Colossus of Clout?"

"The King of Crash, man," Benny stated, looking embarrassed.

Scott seemed to realize that these boys meant serious business when it came to baseball so he decided to play along. I would have to remember to explain it to him one day. "Oh yeah! The Great Bambino. Of course. I thought you said the Great Bambi."

The chubby kid looked at Scott like he was stupid. "That wimpy dear?"

I had to admit, Scott's excuse was pretty lame. Yet another thing I would have to teach him. Then again, what are big sisters for?

"Yeah, I guess. Sorry," Scott mumbled his reply.

Seeing Scott's discomfort, Benny spoke up. "Anyway, Scott, that's Timmy and Tommy Timmons." He pointed at the two boys on the end. They looked alike but one was slightly older than the other. "Mike 'Squints' Palledorous." The boy with square glasses. "Allan McCellan- we call him Yeah-Yeah." A shorter boy, with brown hair. "Bertram Grover Weeks." The tallest boy, with round glasses. "Kenny Denunez." An African-American boy. "And Hamilton Porter; we call him Ham." The chubby, redhead. "Guys, this is Scott Smalls and his sister Riley."

Scott raised his hand and smiled. "Hi!"

I just stared at the boys who were sending us both glares. They were obviously not happy with our being there. To be honest, I wasn't too happy that I had been dragged there, either but you don't see me glaring. _Boys._

"Um, yeah," Benny said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Scott's gonna play with us, 'cause he makes nine. So, now we got a whole team. We're wasting time. Let's go to the sandlot."

All the boys groaned and jeered. "It's nine o'clock in the morning."

At this place they called the sandlot, Scott and I walked behind as the boys mumbled to each other. I could tell that they didn't like the idea of Scott playing with them. It made me angry. Scott was a good kid and didn't deserve to be made fun of because he was a "geek," according to Bertram.

"The kid is a L7 weenie!" Squints shouted, holding his hands up to make what looked like a square.

"Yeah, yeah. Oscar Meyer, even. Foot long! Dodger dog! A weenie!" Yeah-Yeah added.

I looked over a Scott. He had his head bowed to hide his embarrassment. I nudged him and he looked up at me.

"Don't listen to them," I said to him, with what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "They're bozos."

Scotty smiled, weakly and nodded. Before I could continue, Benny walked over to us.

"Smalls, you take left center, okay?" He pointed Scott in the right direction and then looked at me, expectantly.

When I realized that I was still standing on the field, I coughed, awkwardly. "I'll, uh, just go wait in the dugout."

Benny nodded and I trekked over to the dugout just as Scott asked if he was in the right spot. He wasn't but Benny corrected him. Benny took bat and threw the baseball up for himself to hit. He hit it to Yeah-Yeah, who threw it to Bertram, to Timmy and then to Ham. I had to admit that for a ragtag team of kids, they were better than any actual team.

"Hey, Smalls! Throw it to second!" Benny shouted. I groaned. This was not going to end well.

I watched as Benny hit the ball again. It went soaring through the air, towards Scotty. He started to run backwards but tripped over his own feet and fell on his back. I buried my face in my hands out of second-hand embarrassment. Poor Scotty. Once he had retrieved the ball, he looked ready to throw it but changed his mind. He ran to Kenny and placed the baseball in his glove. It was even worse than I thought it was going to be.


	3. Chapter 3

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**

**_Okay, so, first off I would like to thank you guys! Thank you for all of the reviews and favorites and alerts. It really means a lot. I love to hear feedback from all of you! I hope you all are enjoying this story so far and continue to! _**

**_I do have to admit that I am not a big fan of this chapter. It just helps the plot, though. It's necessary for continuing and adding Riley into the story. _**

**_Anyway, enjoy!_**

* * *

My prayers for some sort of miracle in Scott's favor seemed to be answered when Benny jogged over to my brother. I watched as Benny gave Scott some sort of advice. My younger brother looked a little relieved when Benny went back to home plate to bat again. I held my breath as Benny sent the baseball flying towards Scotty again. With his glove in the air, Scott closed his eyes. The ball fell right into his glove, perfectly. I let out a gasp. Scott looked just as shocked as I was. The other boys were wide-eyed and I couldn't help but cheer. Yeah, in their little jerk faces.

Scott threw the ball (another shock) to Bertram. The boys seemed to find some new respect for Scotty. Jokes were made (the good kind) and they even started to give Scott some tips. They played a few more innings before deciding to call it a day. The other boys went their own ways, while Ham, Scott, Benny and I all walked back towards our own houses. We all told Ham goodbye as he walked in to his own house, which turned out to be only a house away from ours. We agreed to meet again at eight A.M. Before we could walk inside, Scott called Benny back.

"Benny, wait! Your glove!" he shouted after the older boy.

Benny waved his hand dismissively. "Keep it, man."

"Thanks!" Scotty replied, sounding extra excited.

I had walked onto the porch when Benny called after Scott this time. I leaned against the house and listened to him talk.

"Bring a t-shirt and jeans tomorrow, okay? Oh! Um, do you got a fireplace?" Benny asked and Scott nodded. "Throw that hat in there, man."

I couldn't help but laugh. It was a pretty dorky looking hat.

"Oh, yeah. You know, it was the only one I had."

Benny shook his head and pulled a hat from his back pocket. He handed it to Scott. "Not anymore. Wear my old hat."

I smiled. That was actually really nice of him. You could tell that Scott really appreciated it, too. He ran past me for the door, calling for our mom. I giggled and looked over to Benny's house. He was still standing on his own front porch, looking towards me. I blushed but hid it with a wave. He nodded his acknowledgement and then stepped inside. I did the same.

Inside, Scott was excitedly retelling the story of the sandlot to Mom. She was smiling just as wide as he was. I'm sure she was glad that Scott was finally making friends.

"What about you, Ri? Did you make any friends?" she asked me once Scott was done.

I shook my head. "I just watched Scott play baseball."

"Why didn't you play, too?"

"Yeah!" Scott chimed in, agreeing with Mom. "You should have! You're a great thrower."

I laughed and corrected him. "Pitcher. And they don't want to play with a girl. No matter how great of a 'thrower' I am."

"I'm sure they would have let you," Mom replied, with a sweet smile. She obviously didn't understand how pre-teen boys worked.

* * *

The weeks following were spent with Scotty improving his baseball skills greatly and me watching it all from the sidelines. I was definitely having some proud older sister feelings the whole time. Something seemed off, though. I noticed that Kenny wasn't his usual self. He kept quiet and didn't smile much anymore. One day, he didn't show up to practice. Benny looked upset.

"Kenny moved," he stated to the group. Everyone exchanged shocked glances.

"What do you mean Kenny moved? He was just here yesterday!" Ham replied.

"I just went to his house and out front there was a moving van," Benny answered. "Kenny was outside and told me they had been packing for weeks. He just didn't want to tell us 'cause he thought we'd be mad."

"What are we going to do without him?" Squints asked. "He was the best pitcher of all of us!"

Scott's head shot up and he gave me a wide-eyed look. I knew that look. It was his 'I've-got-a-great-idea-look-but-it's-actually-prob ably-a-horrible-idea' look. Getting what he was thinking, I shook my head wildly at him.

"I know someone who can replace him!" he said to the rest of the group. I reached over to shut up him but he dodged me. The other boys looked at him expectantly. "Riley!"

As I expected, they all started laughing. It was apparently the funniest thing they had ever heard.

"She can't play," Ham choked out between chuckles. "She's a girl!"

Even after hearing this same argument for years, this still made me angry. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.

"I bet I'm ten times better than you," I challenged, smirking at Ham.

"Yeah, right," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. The other boys nodded their agreement.

"I'll prove it," I replied. "Unless you're scared that you'll lose."

I knew exactly what I had to say to make him upset. It must have worked because he balled his hands into fists and glared back at me.

"Fine," Ham huffed. "But don't cry when _you_ lose."

* * *

I stood on the pitchers mound, adjusting my baseball glove. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and fixed my hat up so it wasn't covering my eyes. I took a few deep breaths and kicked at the ground; nervous habits of mine. Not that I was nervous. I was just stalling. I knew it would irritate Ham.

"Oh, come on!" Ham shouted on cue. I smiled to myself. "I don't got all day!"

I stood up straight and took the baseball from my glove. An idea sparked in my mind. I was having way too much fun making Ham angry. I threw my first pitch, purposely making sure it went far over his head. As the boys howled with laughter, I pretended to look embarrassed.

The second pitch, I wasn't faking anything. I was going to show them just how good I was. Ham smirked as he watched me prepare for it. I couldn't wait to see how cocky he was after I threw. When I did, it flew past him, right into Benny's glove.

_Strike one. _

"That was a lucky throw," Ham mumbled.

I readied myself again, waiting for Ham to raise the bat. When he did, I wound up and pitched.

_Strike two. _

Ham was turning visibly red. He was practically steaming with anger. The boys in the field went silent. They stopped jeering and just stared. But I didn't worry about them. I had one more pitch to prove them wrong. I was going to make the most of it. So, I gathered up all of my own anger and narrowed my eyes on the boy standing on home plate. I pulled my arm back, ready to strike him out. I held my breath and closed my eyes as the baseball left my hand and went soaring towards Ham.

I heard a faint _whooshing_ sound and then silence. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see both Benny and Ham staring at me in shock. I spun around to look at the other boys. They too were at a loss for words. And then, out of nowhere, Scotty started shouting.

"Yeah, Riley! Woo! Great job! See, I told you guys!" he yelled, walking in from left center field. "I told you!"

_Strike three. _

"I did it?" I questioned quietly to myself.

"Yeah, you did," a voice said from behind me. I looked up to see Benny, who had an approving look on his face. He looked to the sandlot boys. "Are there any objections to Riley playing with us?"

If anyone did, no one said anything.


End file.
